1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems for transportation vehicle operation, performance and condition monitoring and feedback.
2. Description of Related Art
In the case of a transportation vehicle accident, e.g., an aircraft crash, a transportation vehicle data recorder (TVDR), e.g., a Flight Data Recorder (FDR, also known as a “black box”), is used to aid in determining the cause of the crash. However, the TVDR is not always easily located in the remains of the transportation vehicle wreckage. The TVDR also does not monitor existing transportation vehicle conditions during operation, for example, FDRs do not monitor existing transportation vehicle conditions during flight. Moreover, conventional TVDRs are not appropriate tools for gathering and analyzing research data that can eventually be used to improve transportation technology as a whole.
This is a significant deficiency as operators of transportation vehicles such as aircraft are under significant business pressure to reduce the risk of accidents and to ensure that the costs of operating these transportation vehicles are minimized. Various certified commercial tools are available for these purposes on large commercial transportation vehicles such as commercial aircraft whose operators typically maintain custom software and hardware, for example, data down link, i.e., transmission from a commercial aircraft to ground stations, capability presently employed on large airliners for communication with home base. Such data down link technology uses, for example, the Airborne Call and Recording System (ACARS). Conventionally, such software applications used for aircraft performance analysis are written by commercial transportation carriers, for example, specific commercial airline companies each design their own aircraft performance analysis tools.
Nevertheless, such performance analysis technology is prohibitively expensive to maintain for small commercial transportation carriers and non-commercial transportation vehicle operators with more limited manpower and operational resources.
Moreover, in the commercial and non-commercial aircraft industry, as well as any other transportation vehicle industry, there are few tools for real-time diagnosis of transportation vehicle condition to improve safety and access to assistance for transportation vehicle operators. Additionally, there are presently no methods or systems for easily monitoring characteristics of an individual transportation vehicle's condition, performance and operation. Moreover, there is presently no method or system for comparing the condition, performance or operation of particular types of transportation vehicles, a plurality of transportation vehicles, under various atmospheric conditions, on particular geographic or topological routes, etc., with each other or against empirical parameters.